Kings Lose Pre-Playoff Opener to Flames

The National Hockey League playoffs don’t begin until next month, but the Kings and Calgary Flames are playing a sort of three-game mini-series that may determine who gets to open the playoffs against the defending Stanley Cup champion Edmonton Oilers.

The injury-plagued Flames won the first game of the series Saturday night, scoring two third-period goals to beat the Kings, 4-3, in front of 14,641 fans at the Forum.

It was the third straight loss for the Kings, and it was the first time in 23 games this season that the Flames had won when they trailed going into the third period.

After two periods Saturday night, the Flames trailed, 3-2, but tied the score on a goal by Kent Nilsson with just less than 14 minutes to play. Then Steve Bozek, a former King, scored the game-winning goal with 7:29 left when he took a pass from Joel Otto on a two-on-one break and beat King goalie Bob Janecyk on a five-foot shot.

“You always try to get up a little bit when you play your former team,” Bozek said. “But this was the icing on the cake.”

The Kings play the Flames again Wednesday night at the Forum and end the series next Friday night at Calgary.

The third-place Flames (38-27-9) increased their lead to eight points over the fourth-place Kings (32-29-13) in the Smythe Division. The loss eliminated the Kings from a shot at finishing in second place.

“We haven’t given up hope (of finishing third),” King Coach Pat Quinn said. “Our guys fought very hard. We played a great game. We had a number of scoring chances. I’m not unhappy with the way we played, just the result.

“This is playoff hockey. A game like this should teach us some lessons.”

Calgary trails second-place Winnipeg by four points. If the Kings finish in fourth place, they’ll open against Edmonton in the playoffs. If Calgary finishes third, the Flames will play Winnipeg in the first round.

Calgary goalie Reggie Lemelin, voted the No. 1 star of the game, made 30 saves.

“He is so cool in the nets,” King right wing Jim Fox said of Lemelin. “He blocks as much room as he can in the nets and he covers his own rebounds well.”

Said Quinn: “(Lemelin) seems to have a groove going against us. I watched him years ago when he was playing for the American League team in Philly, and he was the best goalie in the league.”

A power-play goal by Marcel Dionne with 7:16 left in the second period had given the Kings their 3-2 lead. But the Kings’ gain was offset by the loss of defenseman Jay Wells in the period when he was hit in the right knee by a slap shot from defenseman Neil Sheehy. Wells seemed not to have suffered a serious injury but was taken to Centinela Hospital Medical Center for precautionary X-rays.

With the score tied at 3-3 in the third period, Fox missed a good scoring chance when he took a pass from Bernie Nicholls and shot over a wide open net.

Calgary tied the score with 13:56 left on Nilsson’s 34th goal of the season, this one on a rebound from point-blank range. Janecyk had blocked a shot by Mike Eaves to the right of the net, but the rebound went to Nilsson, who was on the left side, and he put it in as Janecyk did the splits.

“This is the kind of game you’re going to see in the playoffs,” Dionne said. “We played hard and there’s nothing to be embarrassed about.”

Calgary Coach Bob Johnson said: “It was a good effort. It might have been our best effort of the year what with all the injuries we have. We’re still in the race with Winnipeg.”

The Flames almost needed a hospital plane to get to Los Angeles after Friday night’s 3-1 loss to Chicago, snapping their six-game unbeaten streak. They went into Saturday night’s game without six of their top 10 players, including three right wings.

Right wing Hakan Loob, the team’s second-leading scorer with 66 points, was out because of a shoulder injury suffered against Chicago. Defenseman Paul Reinhart had the flu and didn’t make the trip. Defenseman Al MacInnis is sidelined at least another week with a sprained knee suffered Feb. 27. Right wing Lanny McDonald suffered strained knee ligaments on March 9 and isn’t expected back until the playoffs. Right wing Colin Patterson suffered a knee injury Feb. 23 and is out at least another week. And Center Doug Risebrough is also out with a knee injury.

Despite all this, the Flames took a 1-0 lead over the Kings with 2:35 left in the first period on a power-play goal by left wing Eddy Beers.

On the play, Flame defenseman Charles Bourgeois took a shot from the point. Janecyk got his stick on it, and the puck bounced high in the air. Eaves took a whack at it, and Beers finally knocked it in.

Calgary outshot the Kings, 15-10, in the first period, but the Kings had several good scoring chances. They had a two-on-one breakaway with Nicholls and Fox, but Lemelin, who shut out the Kings, 7-0, earlier this month at Calgary, made a nice save on Nicholls’ shot with 5:13 left in the first period.

The Flames took a penalty 30 seconds into the second period when defenseman Steve Konroyd was called for hooking. This time, the Kings, scoreless on their first two power plays, got a power-play goal to tie 1:43 into the period.

On the scoring play, defenseman Mark Hardy took a pass from Dave Taylor and put in his 14th goal of the season, this one on a shot from the point. It appeared that the puck hit the stick of left wing Tiger Williams before going into the net, but Hardy got credit for the goal and became the highest scoring defenseman in Kings’ history with 208 points.

There was a fight with 17:51 left in the second period when Williams went at it with Bourgeois.

The Kings took a 2-1 lead with 11:23 remaining in the period when Phil Sykes tipped in a shot by rookie defenseman Craig Redmond. Lemelin got his glove on Redmond’s shot, but Sykes knocked it loose and into the net for his 17th goal of the season.

The Flames tied it at 2-2 a little more than a minute later when defenseman Perry Berezan scored his second goal of the season on a backhander from 18 feet away.

However, after a holding penalty on center Carey Wilson at 11:46, the Kings scored their second power-play goal of the game to take a 3-2 lead into the final period. Dionne dug out the puck from behind the net, skated around and beat Lemelin on a five-footer for his 45th goal of the season. It came with 7:16 left in the second period.

The Flames will practice in San Diego Monday and Tuesday before returing to Los Angeles for Wednesday night’s game against the Kings at the Forum.